LIBRARY'S READING PROGRAM MORE THAN JUST READING

JACKSON - The Jackson Public Library's "Reading Up a Storm" summer reading program is a lot more than just reading, says children's librarian Judy Holmes.

And the excited voices of over 100 youngsters were ample proof last week when Science Technician Bob Green of Southeast Missouri State University lifted an 8-foot gray rat snake from a cloth bag and draped it around his shoulder.

Green's hour-long program on snakes and lizards was one of a series the library is presenting as part of its summer reading program for children. Other programs have covered live woodland animals, a model helicopter demonstration, and weather. The last program of the season will be about dog obedience.

"The purpose of our summer reading program is to encourage children to continue to read during the summer months while they are out of school," Holmes said.

"...The activities that we plan along with the reading program, such as today's program on lizards and snakes, will encourage the children to feel and touch, then go back and read more about what they have seen."

In addition to the gray rat snake, Green and his 16-year-old daughter Julie brought with them several species of skinks or lizards, a snapping turtle, a three-toed box turtle, and Zeus, a 9-foot boa constrictor that wrapped itself around Julie's waist like a thick belt.

The excitement shown by the 119 children when Green lifted the snapping turtle out of its cage - long neck extended and beak-like mouth open - was mild compared to the noisy and animated reaction when Green lifted the coiled gray rat snake from its cloth bag and draped it around his neck and shoulders.

But it wasn't long before most of the children were petting and feeling snake. Several even let Green put the snake around their neck and shoulders.

Green said snakes are beneficial to humans because they control rodents, and should be left alone, especially if in the wild.

He also dispelled a myth. "There is no snake in Missouri that is going to chase you, there is no snake in Missouri that is going to eat you," he stated as the children giggled and laughed.

"If you see a snake, it will try to get away from you and it may seem as if it is coming toward you. If you just stand still, the snake will go right by you.

Of the 55 species of snakes that live in Missouri, Green said, only five are poisonous. Of the five, only three are found in Southeast Missouri.

Green got another reaction from the children when he accidentally dropped one of the tiny skinks on the floor near where they were sitting. He told them skinks or lizards are not poisonous and will always run away from humans. He said they are also beneficial to man because they eat insects.

To participate in the special program activities, pre-school through fifth-grade children must be enrolled in the Reading Up a Storm program. It requires them to read a specified number of books or pages in the case of the younger children during the summer months.

Last year, the children read more than 6,000 books during the nine-week summer reading period, Holmes said.

Attendance during the Reading Up a Storm activities often is more than 150 children. "It's a very popular part of our summer reading program," she said.

While it's too late to enroll in the program this year, Holmes said the summer reading program will resume next year with more special activities.

The summer reading program has been sponsored by the Jackson Public Library for more than seven years.